Fat
by Fairylust
Summary: When Near first arrived at the orphanage he wasn't the thin kid we all know, he was a little chubby...and Matt and Mello don't help him feel better...not at all. Yeah, and this is my first oneshot so please don't be too mean! R&R, please! More Info Inside


**Fat**

**ORIGINAL AUTHOR OF THIS FANFICTION: GREENKITTENKID4**

**I TAKE NO CREDIT!**

**~Fairylust~**

**Hey people! Yeah, I'm still alive, don't be too shocked, please, don't be too shocked! You may be shocked about...well...never mind. My first (as far as I know) oneshot! Please don't expect any updates seeing as this is a oneshot! **

**R&R!**

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Near came late in April like the persistent thunderstorms, lightening storms and rain showers during that time. He was a pudgy seven-year-old kid, who could've been easily mistaken for a small girl because of his sweet, angelic appearance. His fluffy, white curls were never tangled and his milky white flesh seemed to almost always glow, unlike his large, deadened black orbs, which he used to stare at people for long periods of time, annoying most of them and Near always was decked in white pajamas, which made him appear even more childish than what he already was.

Needless to say, he was adorable and gifted, so the staff at the orphanage said when they thought nobody was listening. Yeah, Near really became the talk of the orphanage. The maid cooed about him, the cook joked about his appearance, the housekeeper (not to be confused with one of the two maids) gossiped about him, the teachers relinquished some information they overheard the orphanage caretakers going on about and most of the children spoke of him with a mixture of curiosity and cruelty usually when he was around to hear their conversation. The child didn't seem to be bothered though.

It was no secret that he didn't have any friends, well, any _real_ friends.

His only friends seemed to be his three stuffed animals, which he almost always seemed to carry one of around wherever he went. The three stuffed toy animals consisted of: a pink bunny, large fuzzy panda and an old scruffy, gray cat that had huge, green button eyes. A tall, lean man with messy raven-hair almost always visited him, his name was L and most at the orphanage couldn't understand what he felt towards the child who didn't even give him a second glance when he appeared. He sat quietly playing with something while the detective watched him and spoke a few brief sentences.

He'd ask if Near was happy, if he felt sick, if he wanted to play with a new toy, at times he would ask how his classes were going, was he making any new friends, what did he think of all the new people? There was also on a few occasions when he would cradle or hug the boy gingerly, a gesture of affection he never displayed to anyone before.

At times he'd share candy he was munching on with the younger boy, but Near never ate it, he'd accept it and put it in his pocket but he never dared to consume it. What became of the treats, nobody knew. L said that whatever Near done with the candy was none of anyone's business and when someone pressed on the matter he'd say that he once saw Near toss it into the trash. He didn't mind, though he admitted it was a shameful way to dispose of such delicious treats. Everyone had different tastes he would say.

Some wondered why he even bothered to spend time with the albino. He was so unemotional, so blank, yet so…so…much like L? No, that wasn't it. Though some had to admit the resemblance between the two was uncanny.

Rumors spread that maybe there was something the detective knew that nobody else did, something he wouldn't tell. The children came to the conclusion that the young boy was possessed by a demon or something. Nobody ever asked Near, though, and the pallid boy suffered emotional pain from the ridicule and abnormal treatment he received.

L was more than willing to sympathize with him, but Near refused to accept his help, afraid people would get livid with L for caring about him and then he'd lose his only _real_ friend that he had. Sometimes the small boy would daydream about the raven-haired man, but never told anyone, because no one understood him at all. Not even L. That was a real disappointment to the small boy because he looked up to the elder male so much.

He just wanted his mentor to understand.

One night the pudgy child woke up hearing whispering that was followed by a few snickers. He sat up in bed and found an eight and nine year old boy in his room staring at him, they seemed to have been in there for a long while as they seemed quite comfortable where they sat. Near was truly surprised. He recognized them as the two boys Rodger always seemed to be either punishing or lecturing about something bad they done.

On a few occasions L had spoken with them. Matt and Mello were what everyone called them, but Near had not the faintest idea as to why they were in his room, staring at him in his sleep and waking him up by whispering and snickering.

"H-hello." He said trying to sound friendly.

"Wow, it can talk!" Matt snickered with mock amazement.

"Bet you it can't feel." Mello snickered along with his friend. "Let's find out!"

He turned to Near and pinched him as hard as he could on his arm causing the boy to howl in pain whilst his skin reddened and bruised. That was when both Matt and Mello learned that Near was very tender at that current age. Warm tears sled down his face as the stinging pain refused to go away. The two older boys stared at him bemused. As Near wailed louder and louder they stood staring at him with confused expressions.

The bedroom door eventually opened and three adult figures entered the room feeling both weary and wary. Near jumped from his bed and ran to L grabbing onto his legs and holding on for dear life. L gave a bewildered glance to Mello and Matt who watched still appearing confused. Quillish and Rodger looked at them then to Near and L then back to them before telling L to handle things.

"Why me?" he inquired.

"It'll teach you some responsibility." Rodger told the eighteen-year-old raven who gave the old man a look of discomfort. "Besides we're older than you and want to go back to bed. You were already awake as you always are, I am sure."

The elder men quickly exited the room closing the door behind them.

"Near please stop crying." L said as the albino was getting his jeans wet with his tears. "Near please, stop and let go of my legs." He said trying to keep calm, but was (secretly on the inside) panicking never having seen Near cry so terribly.

"What has upset him?" he asked looking to Mello and Matt.

"Mello pinched him!" Matt shouted pointing a finger to his friend.

"Matt hit him and bit him!" Mello lied stomping his foot angrily.

L sighed shaking his head. "Apologize." He said trying to gently pry Near from his legs, but the small boy just grabbed onto his neck and clung to his torso. L started to feel rather uncomfortable. Tending to weeping children was never something he'd done.

Naturally, he felt awkward and out of place. He sat down on the bed and pried the albino off of him once more. He sat the albino on the bed and tried to stand up, but the young boy grabbed his thigh and clung onto his leg. Sighing L looked to Matt and Mello who were laughing their heads off. He forcefully pulled Near off of him and sat him on his bed. The small boy wiped his eyes with his pajama sleeves.

"Near, are you going to be okay?" L asked standing a safe distance away.

The albino nodded hugging his knees to his chest as he continued sobbing. "I want you two to apologize to him." L said to the other two boys who mumbled their apologies halfheartedly. Near didn't hear them but nodded as if accepting the apology he didn't hear. The boys ran from the room, followed by L who left the small albino alone.

Two hours later when he was finally calmed down Near decided to take a shower, which wasn't the best of ideas and he'd have probably not have done it if he'd known Mello and Matt were going to come back. He however didn't know and went to his bathroom unknowing of what was going to happen within the next forty-five minutes.

Mello and Matt opened the white bedroom door and were bemused as they saw nobody was present. "Maybe it went outside or to the Common Room." Matt suggested. His friend shook his head hearing the sound of a shower coming from the bathroom.

"It's in there." The blonde whispered hearing the shower water stop. "What do you think we should do?" he asked his redheaded friend.

Matt shrugged. After a minute or so he pulled a coin from his jeans pocket. Mello nodded in agreement understanding what Matt was suggesting. For a kid flipping a coin was always a good way to decide things. "Heads we leave, tails we go in." the younger of the two said before flipping and catching the coin. He looked to Mello with a devilish grin.

"Tails." He said watching as Mello smiled, too. They didn't hesitate to pull the bathroom door open. Near's eyes widened and his cheeks rapidly turned rosy red. Mello and Matt stared at the small boy who held a towel around his small, wet body. The two older boys snickered and laughed at the sight of Near soaked and standing with a towel wrapped around his body, covering from his chest to his ankles.

Near however was humiliated.

"P-please leave." He said trying to keep from crying.

"No way!" Matt snickered taking a step towards him. "You're a guy right? No, wait, you're a girl aren't you? I mean you're not one of those people who are a girl _and_ guy?"

"Hmm?" the smaller boy gaped, his eyes widening in shock.

"Are you a boy or a girl?" Mello said simplifying his friend's question.

"B-boy." Near said stepping backwards.

"Then why are you covering your chest up?" Matt demanded. "Only girls cover their chests." He said knowingly.

Near didn't want to know how he knew that. He just wanted them to leave, but it appeared as though that wasn't going to happen anytime soon. He whimpered as Matt took another step towards him. He felt like bursting into tears like any small child would have in his current situation. But he held the betraying tears back in all honesty hoping that Mello and Matt would decide to leave him alone.

"Move your towel down below your waist." The redhead said in a commanding tone.

"W-why?" Near asked appearing nervous.

"Cause boys hold towels below their waists." Matt said crossing his arms in front of his chest knowingly. Near blushed and shook his head. The gamer grabbed the towel and tried to bring down to Near's waist, but he instead ended up jerking the towel from Near's hands leaving him exposed. Matt burst out laughing as soon as he saw Near without the towel on. Near tried to cover his nakedness in vain and after a couple of minutes gave up. Matt fell to the floor laughing at Near while Mello stared at the younger boy with surprise. "Dude, you're fat!" Matt laughed pointing at Near's pale plump belly. Rolls of fat shown on Near's sides.

"Dang, you are really fat!" he laughed hysterically. "I'm not as fat as you! _Nobody_ is fat here at Whammy's except for you!"

Near couldn't hold his tears back anymore and burst into loud sobs.

"You're a real fatso! Fatty! Fat! You're just…so…so…fat!"

Near sobbed as he grabbed his clothes and ran from the bathroom slamming the door behind him. Locking it from the outside where he was getting dressed in his bedroom. Unable to hold his sobs as he finished dressing and still continued to hear Matt's insults from behind the bathroom door Near curled up into a ball of white weeping, despising himself for being so different from the normal children like Matt and Mello.

"Fat-"

"Matt shut the hell up!" Mello snapped.

"But he's fat!" the redhead laughed hysterically. "So fat!"

"We're gonna get into huge amounts of trouble!" Mello spat angrily.

Matt shut up hearing that knowing that if they got into trouble again, then he'd lose his video game rights. He really didn't want that. Just like Mello didn't want to loose his chocolate privileges. The door clicked once it was unlocked a few hours later. They were surprised to find that Near wasn't in the room when they stepped out and scanned the room expecting to see the younger boy wailing and crying.

Near sat in the Common Room alone. He clicked his puzzle together slowly. He didn't want to finish it until other children started to come in. He liked being alone. It gave him time to think and spared him from the other children's hate and ridicule. So what if he wasn't the thinnest kid around? It was just baby fat. It'd go away sooner or later. He'd seen twelve year olds who had it and they didn't look so thin either.

Near quickly wondered if Matt or Mello would find him and start to tease him again. He bit his bottom lip as that thought troubled him. He bit it so hard that it started to bleed and the blood dripped down onto his puzzle staining the white with crimson red.

The blood didn't stop dripping and Near made no effort to stop it from staining his puzzle. Wasn't that how things worked? The innocent white getting tainted by the vicious red, which was how it always ended wasn't it? Someday, Near knew, L would just be the white tainted by red and then he'd need another white to step in for him. That seemed to be how nature did things…or how murders did things…how everyone did things. Near stood as several children ran in and walked off. His baggy white pajamas hanging from his body loosely as he went.

He just wished that he wasn't fat. He wished he were thin and beautiful. If her were then Mello and Matt wouldn't have had a reason to make fun of him. Plus, if he were thin and beautiful, then he wouldn't be so ugly. He already pictured himself in his mind's eye. Short, small, fat, dark-eyed, and pale. It made his stomach turn with discomfort. _How could such a small thing be so ugly?_ The words of his aunt still haunted him. He didn't want to be ugly and he didn't know why people sugar coated the truth, but he wished they wouldn't. Everyone called him strange, but cute and he knew that it had to be a lie.

Matt had said it well himself: _You're a real fatso! Fatty! Fat! You're just…so…so…so fat!_

Sniffling Near jumped when a certain blonde ran into the room panting. "There you are!" he gasped. "S-sorry!" he said as he struggled to catch his breath. "Sorry that Matt was such a jerk." he said in a more steady voice. "He must have hurt your feelings really bad. I just wanted to say that you aren't, at all, fat."

Near gave him a puzzled, doubtful look.

"No, really." Mello said watching as the boy tugged at his baggy shirt nervously. "Really. It's just baby fat."

"I'm still fat."

"Not really! Are you listening? If you didn't have the baby fat then you would be thin!"

"Really?" Near muttered. "I suppose it makes sense. So, I guess, what Mello says could, maybe, possibly be true."

"Yeah! Yeah! Yeah, it's true and it makes sense when you really think about it!"

"But Mello does not believe me to be an ugly fatso?"

The blonde paled. He wanted more than anything to insult his rival, but he knew that would solve nothing, so he shook his head and smiled sincerely. "No, you're cute and not at all an ugly fatso." The blonde insisted. "Really."

Blushing Near giggled happily and hugged Mello, who blushed a pale shade of pink.

"Thank you Merro!" the small boy purred happily as he clung onto the blonde lovingly. Mello hugged back hoping nobody would walk in on the sappy, mushy moment. "I'll never feel self-conscious again! Thank you!"

**(Happily Ever End)**

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Yayz! Pleasant ending! Please voice your opinions and I'll welcome flamings and criticism and I'll especially welcome nice, decent, very pleasant comments. Thank you. Please Read and Review.

**Review NOW!**


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